Altogether, across every Metroid game, we've seen not only Ridley but Meta Ridley, Omega Ridley, Mecha Ridley, and Neo Ridley. Dude has more forms than the IRS. The fact that Drako transforms into Ultimate Drako keeps with Ridley's distinctive "never give up, even after you've exploded" style of villainy.
So to get a clearer idea of what's going on, let's put all of this together in a timeline. Ridley and Mother Brain are Drako and Krang, respectively. Ridley is out space-pirating and winning Battle Nexus championships, Krang gets his help to steal Metroids, and life is generally good for the two of them.
Then Splinter comes along and takes the Battle Nexus championship from Ridley. Ridley, enraged, battles Splinter. In the process, he discovers New York and founds The Purple Dragons. Shredder takes Ridley's place as the underling in charge of Earth's invasion. Eventually, years later, after the Turtles cease to be a threat (either because they die nobly in battle or are trapped in someone's massive terrarium), Samus Aran storms Krang's Zebesian base, blows it up, and then comes back a second time to blow up the whole damn planet.
So, every time you play Metroid or Super Metroid, you're on a mission to finish what the Ninja Turtles started. And every time you watch a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, you're seeing a prequel to Metroid. Enjoy.
Jason Bowers is an adjunct professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University. In his spare time, he makes academic philosophy videos for YouTube.
Zoroastrianism used to be one of the biggest religions in the world, but their idea of heaven had a slight twist on it: To get there you'd have to cross a bridge, sometimes rickety, sometimes wide and sturdy. If you fell off, you'd go to the House of Lies for eternity. Fun! Not terrifying at all! This month, Jack, Dan, and Michael, along with comedians Casey Jane Ellison and Ramin Nazer discuss their favorite afterlife scenarios from movies, sci-fi, and lesser-known religions. Get your tickets here, and we'll see you on the other side of the bridge!
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